A federal high court in Abuja has
condemned the arrest of women alleged to be sex workers in Abuja by law
enforcement agents.
Binta Nyako, the judge, on
Wednesday said security agents violated the rights of the women as enshrined in
section 37 of the constitution when they broke into their homes to arrest them.
She also ruled that sex work is
not a crime.
Babatunde Jacob, a counsel
working with Lawyers Alert, a non-governmental organisation, had instituted a
fundamental human rights enforcement suit on behalf of the arrested women.
The Nigeria police, the army,
ministry of the federal capital territory (FCT), and the Abuja Environmental
Protection Board (AEPB) were the respondents in the suit.
The judge said: “I find and hold
that the breaking in and arrest of the applicants by the respondents is an
infringement of the applicants’ right to privacy as guaranteed by the
constitution.”
“The law has laid down process
and procedure for effective arrest. Law enforcement agents and agencies should
ensure at all times to follow the laid down guidelines by the law,” she added.
She ordered the respondents to
pay N1.6 million as damage cost to the affected women.
In April, security agents
arrested over 100 women at Caramelo, a night club in Abuja, and other highbrow
areas in the FCT, and alleged that they were strippers and sex workers.
A controversy was sparked off
when some of those arrested accused male police officers of sexually assaulting
them.
The women said they had to either
bribe their way to freedom or allow themselves to be sexually abused by the
officers.
After widespread agitation by
activists and civil society organisations, the FCT police command announced
that a “high-powered team” had been set up to investigate the alleged assault
of women by its officers.
To date, the police are yet to
reveal the findings of the investigation.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com